Helga's Umbrella
by SideshowJazz1
Summary: On New Year's Eve, Helga wanders the streets on her own, in spite of the rain. What happens when she ends up at the boarding house and Arnold sees her standing on the streets, absolutely soaked? Arnold/Helga. Songfic of Rihanna's "Umbrella", since I think it fits these two beautifully.


**A/N: Ugh, this is awful. But ever since rewatching "Helga On The Couch", I can't get the thought of this couple and this song out of my head, so I wrote a little New Year's Eve story about it. Oh yes, and plenty of Helga/Arnold, so don't worry.**

**This originally had the song lyrics, but I had to delete them to avoid being banned. Please listen to the song on YouTube while reading.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize. The song is property of Rihanna, and the show belongs to Craig Bartlett.**

It was like a replay of Thanksgiving for Helga Pataki. It was New Year's Eve and here she was again, shivering in her thin jacket as she aimlessly walked through the city.

But then again, she'd met up with Arnold that day, and when she'd gotten back, her whole family had actually been worried. She remembered how Miriam had been hysterically phoning the police, Bob was about to take the car out to search for her, and Olga had printed up several Missing flyers. But it was over a month since then and everyone had returned to their old routine of ignoring her.

Just as she had the first time, she wondered what was happening to Arnold. Was he celebrating the wrong holiday due to his Grandma's ideas, she wondered, remembering how he'd left on Thanksgiving because they were celebrating it as the Fourth of July. Was he celebrating it at all yet, or was the boarding house waiting until later? At least, he probably was having a better time than her, having nothing better to do than drift through the streets until it got dark, then stay up past midnight just because it felt like an obligation.

"_I suppose I could just go home now and spend the evening in my closet." _she thought. But for some reason, spending the next six hours in front of her shrine seemed like a little bit too much. There was only so much time one could stare at a likeness of the one they loved without doing anything more. She would have usually written poetry too, but she'd feeling listless and uninspired recently, and she doubted she could write anything.

Helga looked up at the sky. It wasn't completely dark yet, but the streetlights were off and she could see the first star in the sky. At that moment, inspiration hit and she ducked into the nearest alleyway, where she could take out her locket.

"Oh, Arnold, my love, my own evening star, I wish that you could know my heart's desire, that I could keep my most important resolution for this year, that I could let you know how I really feel." Helga sighed forlornly. "If only I wasn't so scared, I would speak the words to you that I've longed to say for years...I love you."

There was a pause. Helga looked around, surprised. She was used to Brainy standing behind her, or even Arnold finding her at the end of her monologues, but this time, there was nothing.

And now it was raining. Helga sighed again. Maybe it was a sign that she should be heading home.

As Helga walked, she passed her old preschool, and stopped for a moment, remembering that rainy day when she started preschool, when she'd met Arnold. He'd held his umbrella over both of them, she remembered. And she remembered the way he'd smiled, and what he'd said.

"_Hi. Nice bow."_

"_Huh?"_

"_I like your bow, because it's pink like your pants."_

She smiled faintly at the memory. In a way, she reflected, Arnold was like her own umbrella, unwittingly protecting her from completely breaking down. She'd come so close to losing herself, but it was her love for Arnold that kept her sane, even if she became too obsessive. Even as the rain splashed down around her, she continued to smile as she was walking slowly, now. That first memory of Arnold set off so many more, spanning within the six years they'd known each other. Some of them made her feel ashamed, as the many times she'd done something mean to him struck her mind. But the nicer memories made her smile again, like the school play. But her confession, and when she'd taken it back, was what hurt her the most.

By now, the rain had taken its toll. Helga was completely soaked, but she barely noticed, caught up in daydreams. She didn't even notice that her hair had become so weighed down that it was barely noticeable that they'd been in pigtails, and her bow was so heavy with water that it was in danger of falling off.

Helga continued to walk, on and on. Now her flood of memories had stopped, her daydreams of what she wanted to do took over, and although she didn't realize it, her subconscious was choosing the direction she was going in. The direction of Vine Street. The direction where she would end up at the Sunset Arms.

In fact, Helga didn't realize it until she was standing in front of the boarding house, and she sighed for the third time that evening. Why could she not stay at a distance? Why did she have to get so close to Arnold, and yet push him away? Why did she continue to hurt herself, again and again?

She looked up at Arnold's window. She knew that that silhouette she saw was just a plant, as she remembered from that time she'd climbed his fire escape when sleepwalking and thought she'd confessed her secret to Arnold, when he'd actually been asleep up until she'd been awoken.

For a moment, she thought she saw an almost identical silhouette appear at the window, and she froze. Then she relaxed again.

"_It's not like he'll notice me. Not unless he's looking directly down." _she thought.

Helga pulled out her locket again, but this time, she didn't say a word. She'd learned her lesson. It was too risky to always monologue out loud when someone she knew was nearby. After all, even if Arnold didn't hear her, there might be an open window in the boarding house and one of the boarders might hear her. However, her mind was running at several miles a minute, as the rain continued to soak every bit of her. The cloudy water from the gutter had already stained her shoes and socks brown, but for that moment, she didn't feel the wet.

And just as she put the locket away, she heard a familiar voice speak.

"Are you okay?"

Helga panicked for a moment when she realized that not only had Arnold seen her from the window, but he'd come down, but she managed to calm herself down, just the smallest bit. And, remembering her resolution, she managed to go halfway there – to say something that wasn't mean. Even though Arnold was less than a metre away, she forced herself to look straight at him, and speak.

"Yeah." she said. "I was just...I guess I just didn't notice where I was going. I should probably get home. It IS New Year's Eve, after all."

"Wait." Arnold said. He opened an umbrella that he was holding. "Take this. It's a spare, and considering you're already soaked, you might want to take this."

"Oh..." Helga said. "Well...thanks, I guess." She took the umbrella.

Arnold smiled, and then, he suddenly said "I still like your bow, you know."

"What?" Helga couldn't be sure she'd heard correctly.

"Remember that first day, at preschool? I remember sharing my umbrella with you and complimenting your bow."

"Oh...not really. "Helga lied. She remembered that day more clearly than ever, but she couldn't tell him that. "I guess I kind of remember." she admitted.

Arnold smiled at her. "Happy New Year, Helga." he said as he went back into the house.

Helga smiled, holding the umbrella. "Happy New Year, Arnold." she whispered, although he couldn't hear her.

Oh yes, Arnold was always her umbrella, from day one.

_ …_

**Well, I know it sucks, but review anyway, please?**


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